“Iron Codex - Book1; Iron Thorn”

Author: Caitlin Kittredge

The title was what sparked my interest in this book, as I have been a fan of the Fey folk for a while. (The Fey folk, being mystical creatures who can’t touch iron) However, I was hoping this book in particular was a stand-alone novel; but after making it about halfway through, I realized it was going to take a lot more than half a book to get this story completed. It was then I discovered, after some deeper research, this is book 1 in the “Iron Codex” trilogy. So, with that new information in mind, I finished the book debating whether or not the next 2 books that follow would be worth my time. Gear contraptions, underground pipes, pirate airships, and hidden clockwork… I’d say this falls under the “Steampunk” category.

Hissing with the steam from the engine running below the streets, this city is plagued. A terrible Necrovirus plants in your mind, causing you to go mad. It’s also responsible for the horrid creatures called the nightjars, who roam the underground tunnels, and surface at night to hunt live flesh.

The proctors who rule over the city are searching for a cure; banishing all things that are deemed Heretical, or have connections with magic and witchcraft. Reason and Order is what keeps the madness at bay… But for Aoife Grayson the madness is in her family’s blood. Already, her older brother, Conrad, has been labeled crazy before running off and disappearing. Her mother is locked away in a mad house, and her father abandoned her when she was young, leaving Aoife alone with the small hope that her family isn’t crazy. Although, on her sixteenth birthday fast approaching, it’ll be Aoife’s turn to succumb to madness.

The chance to prove her family isn’t cursed, comes from the secret message Aoife’s brother, Conrad, sends to her. Running away from the academy she’s currently studying at, Aoife enlists the help of her only friend, Conner. Together they set out on a mission to find her brother, and may yet discover the truth behind the system that governs their city of steam.

  

Being the first “Victorian  Steampunk” type book I’ve read so far, I’m curious for what will happen next. Therefore the next 2 books have been put on my ever-growing reading list. As the years of my blogging goes on, I’m realizing how so little time there is for reading so many books.

This book however felt very long. The first few chapters started out exciting, but quickly declined half way in. I’m not one to quit on a book, so I sucked it up and finished. I was immensely pleased when the story’s pace picked up again at the finally.  It ended, becoming the beginning of a great story that made me change my mind about abandoning the trilogy completely. It wasn’t the best book ever, but I wouldn’t dismiss it all together without first taking a second glance.